Equity for Actors
Commercial television is clearly on the way; the Television Advisory Committee's report to the Postmaster-General may be out in a week or two; and it should not be so very long before the form which commercial television is likely to take in this country, and its extent, will be settled. So all concerned are on their toes, among them the many and fre- quently hard-pressed members of the acting profession. At the annual meeting of British Equity on Sunday Mr. Andrd Morell said that when he and his colleagues of the council had a meeting recently with the Assistant Postmaster-General, and the question of sponsored television was raised, they were told that it was a matter of urgency and advised to waste no time in connection with their proposals. Equity, therefore, decided to urge the Government to make it a condition of the issue of a licence that not less than eighty per cent. of the pro- gramme material submitted, whether live or film, should originate in Britain. From the actors' point of view, and in the circumstances, the request is reasonable, for sponsored television should certainly bring the opportunity for more actors to make a steady and decent living—an opportunity, however, which might largely be lost if programmes could freely 'be padded out to any extent with the short, cheap films turned out in Hollywood for American television and available in vast quantities. Equity is not primarily concerned, of course, with the possible quality of the commercial programmes, but in considering its demand, this is something that the Govern- ment on behalf of the public might keep in mind.
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